Fresh Limeade

The other day I found a recipe for lemon- or limeade that used the entire fruit, rind and all. It caught my attention, so I tried it out. It's really simple and a lot easier and quicker than the normal method of juicing the fruit.

I was a bit reluctant to use the peels of both limes, thinking it would be too much, so I used one and a half of the peels and added an extra half cup of water. The end result was actually kind of watered-down. Next time, I might even use less water than the recipe calls for. Also, I'd really like to try this with 2 cups of water to blend with the limes and sugar, then crush 3 cups of ice with a half cup of water and strain the juice and mix together. Kind of like a frozen limeade. It might need more sugar though... When I try it out I'll update this post.

Also, the warning about keeping leftovers is quite valid. I refrigerated the remaining limeade, and it tasted pretty bad the next day. I could easily see 3 or more people finishing it off in a sitting though - it's that good.

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Red Velvet Cake Balls

A cousin of mine graduated from high school this weekend, and I wanted to bring something sweet to the family get-together afterward. I had seen this recipe on Bakerella a week or so before, and thought they'd be perfect for the occasion.


I will give a bit of a warning: these take a while to make. Plan time to bake the cake, wait for it to cool, actually form the balls (I used my hands to mix in the frosting - worked well but made a mess), chill them, then coat them. Also, my entire kitchen was red from the all the coloring in the cake mix.

Sadly I didn't get any pictures of the actual cake in the middle, but they're quite stunning with the white outside/red inside contrast. Click here for some wonderful pictures and the recipe.

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Photo 5-11-08

It was raining pretty hard the other day; we had tornado sirens going off and everything. After it let up, I went outside and noticed this leaf at the bottom of my front steps.

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Silly Walks

I'm a big fan of Monty Python. And I was in a pretty silly mood.

Above: Yeah, that's me.
Below: Inspiration!

I might this shot again sometime. My leg's not angled, I don't have a cane/umbrella, and the bag's on the wrong side. I was originally going by the picture of him in the hallway during the actual skit, but I think this image looks closer, at least perspective-wise.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun setting up and trying to get the picture to take at the right time. I'll have to remember to stretch a bit more for the next go, though.

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New Site Design!

I've updated the blog a bit, might have to refresh if you don't see any changes.

The picture is of a tree in my front yard, taken around noon. No Photoshop levels/color adjusting required; nature saw fit to provide me with all that.

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Ebb and Flow Necklace

I first got into beaded jewelry through chainmail jewelry (which I got into through chainmail armor making, but that's a different story). It started with adding beads onto the chain to add color or focal points for the particular piece. After a little while, I started repairing jewelry (including beaded necklaces and bracelets) for my mother and her friends. From there, it was a pretty natural step to start making my own.

This necklace was inspired by a similar design on ArtBeads.com, located here. ArtBeads is an amazing source of jewelry-making supplies. If I'm looking for something particular and can't find it locally, I order it from them. I also find inspiration just by looking through their catalog. They also offer free shipping! Honestly, how can you beat that?

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Deep Dish Pecan Pie

At work, we designate one day a month to celebrate everyone's birthday that falls during that month. Well, one of the guys in our group had a birthday this past week, but was out of town for the party, so I thought I'd bake something. He had mentioned liking pecans before, and I had been wanting to try this recipe anyway, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to try it.

Now, I'd never made a pecan pie before. Well, I'd never even had pecan pie before. So this was all completely new to me. Although, after being horrified at the ingredient list, I came to the conclusion that anything with that much corn syrup in it would have to taste okay.


The pie filling looked pretty gross. You know when you're at a lake or something, and there's a bunch of sticks floating near the shore, and you suddenly change your mind about wanting to go for a swim? That's what the filling reminded me of. So I covered it with pecan halves. I tried to make it look like pictures of pecan pie that I've seen in the past.

Matt from MattBites is a professional. I mean, literally a professional food photographer. I'm a huge fan of his work. But I still have no idea how he got such a clean cut on his pie. It's really amazing, and makes mine look terrible. However, looks don't affect taste, and this tasted awesome. Of course, I didn't really have anything to compare it to, but the guys at work and my parents all thought it was good. Also, I have no idea if whipped cream is a proper topping for pecan pie, but that and some cinnamon was awfully tasty.



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